Expiration Dates

Book Review: Expiration Dates by Rebecca Serle

Every time Daphne meets a man, she receives a note of some sort with his name on it and a period of time which, she comes to realise, will be the length of their relationship. Then, one day, she receives a note with the guy’s name but no date. Presumably, he might be ‘the one’.

Expiration Dates has all the usual Serle ingredients: a sprinkling of magic, a strong modern twenty-something female main character, heartbreaking moments which pull at your heartstrings, and unexpected twists.

That last one was what I loved about this book. The plot twists I just didn’t see coming. Yet, they were all logical and made perfect sense.

I think my only issue with the book was that Jake was a little bland. I think it would have been a more balanced book if he was just a bit less one-dimensional.

It’s a minor gripe though. I flew through the book and enjoyed it a lot. 4 ½ out of 5

In Five Years

Book Review: In Five Years by Rebecca Serle

Dannie, our heroine, seems to have her life on track. She’s just had an interview for her dream job and her boyfriend, David, whom she lives with, has asked her to marry him. That night, however, she has a dream that five years have passed, she’s in a different apartment, and she’s in a [obviously far from platonic] relationship with another man. But, she tells herself, it’s only a dream. However, four and a half years later, she meets this ‘dream’ man.

I will admit I picked up this book on the basis of this clever premise alone. It was only when I went to read it that I noticed the author and I became anxious. Serle’s last book, The Dinner List, also had a fabulous premise and yet it was poorly executed, earning a mere 2 out of 5 rating from me. Was I in for another disappointing ride?

Well… Yes and no. Yes, because In Five Years was not the sweet romantic chick lit book I was expecting and hoping for. No, because In Five Years was actually all that and more and this time around I think Serle has produced a winner.

Okay, Serle might not be the most literary perfect writer on earth (I will add, I received an ARC copy via Netgalley from Hachette Australia and some of the grammar errors might have been corrected before publication) but I enjoyed this book so much I didn’t care.

That’s not to say that Serle’s descriptive passages didn’t have literary merit at times. Actually, she described New York so well, it was almost another character. She wrote with real local knowledge and her love for the city was evident. (And I seriously now want to try a whitefish bagel.)

Serle does tackle a couple of interesting themes. The most intriguing for me is the definition of family and home. It’s a common theme in modern books and is probably very relevant for many people right now during the Covid19 crisis. So, I’d say she has ticked all the boxes for being topical also.

I flew through the book, being eager to learn what would become of Dannie and the other lead characters. There is a great twist at the end of the book. The Dinner List also had a twist but I saw it coming a mile off. This time, I was not expecting it whatsoever.

I didn’t really know what to expect, to be honest. The way the story progresses from about the halfway mark onwards made me realise this wasn’t the typical romance and I began to have mixed feelings about how the conflicts would be resolved. And somehow, unlike The Dinner List’s ending, Serle pulled it all together and everything worked out, maybe not how I had supposed but, thankfully, much better.

I just flicked through some other reviews and I must say a lot of them feature what I would call spoilers. So, heads up, if you plan on reading this, avoid some of its reviews until after you’re finished.

Definitely Serle redeemed herself for me and I’m happy to recommend In Five Years.

4 ½ out of 5

The Dinner List

Book Review:  The Dinner List by Rebecca Serle

We all know the dinner list game: name five people, living or dead, with whom you would like to have dinner. In this book, our heroine Sabrina finds herself actually dining with the people on her list. It’s a great premise… but…

Sabrina’s list includes her boyfriend Tobias, her best friend, her father, one of her teachers, and Audrey Hepburn. It sounds more exciting than it is. In fact, nothing particularly happens at the dinner party at all, in my opinion.

The alternating chapters of the book is the story of Sabrina’s romance with Tobias. Unfortunately I didn’t fall in love with their romance either, or them in general.

Tobias is not my type of man. He’s a bit new age metrosexual but instead of this being charming, he comes across as simply selfish. He refuses to take any responsibility in life and makes Sabrina feel guilty when she does.

Sabrina too is not the most likeable lead character I’ve ever come across. She too can be selfish as well as jealous.

None of the characters besides Sabrina and Tobias have much of a part to play. Sabrina’s relationship with her father is supposed to reflect her issues with Tobias, but it’s all a bit of a yawn. Her best friend is used as Tobias and Sabrina’s voice of conscience and to fill in some of the gaps for the reader. Her teacher is there for no reason whatsoever really. And Audrey Hepburn is only there for marketing reasons, I’d say, as her part in it is almost ridiculous.

There’s a couple of real life facts about Hepburn brought up but I would think even a casual fan would know most of them. A couple of her movies are mentioned in passing but only her most well known ones. (Weirdly, the movie which one would assume Sabrina was named after is barely mentioned!)

I suppose you could say there is a twist in the book but, as I guessed it at least 10 chapters before it was revealed, I wouldn’t say it was brilliant.

The last third of the book was a real struggle for me. I did finish it, mostly to see if there was any explanation regarding how the dinner party came to be. Serle, however, doesn’t bother to come up with anything original in this respect. It just happened apparently and that’s that.

Overall, bit disappointing. 2 out of 5.